Monthly Archives: July 2011

At the start of June the Department for Communities and Local Government published a Guide to the Community Right to Build, which I noted was disappointingly short. I said I’d let you have my own version when it was finished. … Continue reading →

In a recent post I described how the square-on-plan semi, with front and back living rooms became ‘universal’ during the inter-War period. Private house-builders built three-quarters of the 4 million news homes produced in the period, mostly without the help … Continue reading →

A piece on one of BD Online’s blog today was stressing about the prospect of Tesco getting involved in the UK self-build market, and idea which Housing Minister Grant Shapps has been toying with this week according to Building Design … Continue reading →

The terraced house was the norm for new homes during the late nineteenth century up to the First World War (see previous post), but thereafter it was the semi-detached house that emerged as the standard format for council-housing and private … Continue reading →

In a previous post (way back in October!) I wrote about the wide-fronted house, the third of four ‘rural archetypes’ I described during the tour of Norfolk I did for Beyond Green last summer. I explained that the three- then … Continue reading →

I was talking today with a potential client of Lucas Hickman Smith, who leads a community group which (if all goes according to plan) will commission us to help them replace their worn-out village hall with a new community facility, … Continue reading →

I was very surprsied and flattered to see Ruralise listed in Building Design Magazine’s Twitter Architecture 100. I’ve been writing Ruralise for ten months and only started Tweeting at the start of this year, I think. I have relatively few … Continue reading →